Village board okays addition to Malnati’s

The Lincolnwood Village Board of Trustees at its meeting March 15 directed the village attorney to prepare documents for a zoning change, special uses and variations to allow construction of an addition and a parking lot at Lou Malnati’s Restaurant, 6649 N. Lincoln Ave.

Malnati’s plans to construct a 1,100-square-foot addition north of the restaurant to separate the carry-out and dine-in lobbies. The project also includes an off-street parking area that will be used by carry-out customers and a delivery staging area.

The project also would improve drainage on the property, upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and improve egress from the basement banquet room. A new trash enclosure also would be constructed.

Malnati’s plans to demolish a home that it owns at 6653 N. East Prairie Road to make room for the addition and install an 8-foot wall along the north and the east lot line to provide a barrier between the business and residential properties. The zoning change from R-3 residential district to B-1 general business district is needed because off-street parking areas are not allowed in residential districts.

The zoning code requires a special use approval for restaurants greater than 5,000 square feet in area. With the addition, the restaurant will be 9,500 square feet. A second special use is required to permit a portion of the parking area to be closer to East Prairie Road than the facade of the building.

Malnati’s also requested variations that will allow the rear-yard setback of the to be 6.5 feet rather than the required 10 feet, allow 49 parking spaces rather than the required 95 spaces and allow the restaurant to exceed the commercial maximum first-floor area of 2,500 square feet.

Additional variations will allow the restaurant to have no perimeter landscaped area and no landscaped buffer and to have a driveway aisle narrower than the required 24 feet.

Also at the meeting, the board amended the village code to create a craft brewery liquor license after the village approved the operation of a brewery and a tap room for Begyle Brewing, 7005 N. Central Park Ave. The code new "Class F" license will allow a brewery to produce and store beer as well as sell beer and to have a room for tastings. The fee for the license will be $2,000.

The trustees also approved a contract with Arena Sports USA to provide apparel for Parks and Recreation Department programs. The cost of the apparel will be $19,745.90 to $20,212.70.

The board also approved the purchase of 143 trees from the Suburban Tree Consortium for $47,389 for the spring planting.

The board also approved a $70,650 contract with Filotto Roofing of Crest Hill for the replacement of the shelter roof at Proesel Park.

The board also approved an ordinance declaring a 1998 Vac-Con sewer-cleaning vehicle to be surplus. Standard Equipment has offered $28,00 in trade-in value for the purchase of a new vehicle, which will reduce the purchase price from $369,377 to $341,377.